Constant-level gas-meter.



No. 779,352. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. J. R. DUPOY.

CONSTANT LEVEL GAS METER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1904.

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iB W %'m No. 779,352. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. J. R. DUPOY. CONSTANT LEVELGAS METER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1904.

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Fig.2.

No. 779,352. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. J.-E. DUPOY. CONSTANT LEVEL GASMETER.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 20, 1904.

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Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT ()EEIcE.

JEAN ROMAIN DUPOY, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

CONSTANT-LEVEL GAS-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,352, dated January3, 1905.

Application filed ly 20, 1904. Serial No. 217,356.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN RoMAIN DU'POY, engineer, of 36 Rue Guersant, inthe city of Paris, Republic of France, have invented a Constant-LevelGas-Meter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to meters, and is especially useful in theconstruction of gas-meters.

The object of the invention is to provide simple means for automaticallymaintaining a constant water-level'in the meter.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, wherem- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of theapparatus on line A A of Fig. 2. Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sections taken,respectively, on lines B B and (J C of Fig. 1, showing the two faces ofthe partition separating the hydraulic compartment of the meter from thecompartment containing the drum. Figs. 4 and 5 show, respectively, alongitudinal section and a cross-section of a modified form of theinvention.

The same letters of reference denote like parts in the several figures.

In the drawings, 0 represents the cylindrical casing of a meter, dividedby a partition 6 into two compartments 0 and (Z. The gas is supplied tocompartment 0 in the ordinary manner by means of a valve controlled by afloat and passes out through chamber cZafter being measured by the drum6.

Upon the head of drum 6 are fixed one or more buckets or cups f, (three,for example,) arranged, as shown, so as to successively take up acertain quantity of gas at the moment they dip into the liquid and toliberate said gas when they arrive at the lowest point of their course.The bubbles of gas thus liberated are collected in a hood g, attached topartition 6 and communicating, by means of a chamber h, with a chamberor passage 2', arranged upon the opposite faceof said partition. Anaperture j, formed in the partition, permits of free communicationbetween the chambers h and i.

longed at its lower part in the form of a tube 70, whose extremity isreceived within the compartment by a seal of a depth H.

The chamber Z is pro:

flared end of a tube Z, which opens into a chamber m, provided with aperforated bot tom m for the admission of water contained in thehydraulic compartment of the meter. A cap a is interposed between thewall of chamber m and the mouth of tube Z to serve as a hydraulicresistance. The diameter of the tube Z should be sufficiently small toinsure that the adhesion of the liquid to the inner walls of the tube issuificient to permit of the bubbles of gas acting as a piston.

The tube Z rises at its other extremity above the normal level of thewater in the compartment containing the measuring-drum and discharge thewater, which is forced in the manner hereinafter described into anauxiliary reservoir 0, which is in communication with v the compartmentcontaining the drum 0 by means of one or more orifices p in partition 6.The reservoir 0 is furnished with an overflow-pipe q.

The action of the apparatus is as follows: The cups f, which are carriedround by the drum 6, successively take up acertain quantity of gas,which they liberate only when they arrive at the lowest point of theircourse. The bubbles of gas so liberated are received in the hood g andare thence conductechby means of the chamber 7t, into the chamber 2',which is closed on the drum side by a hydraulic seal of a depth H and onthe side of the hydraulic As the seal H is less than the seal H, it willbe evident that the gas will escape from the extremity of tube In assoon as the pressure in chamber Z exceeds that due to the depth H of thewater contained in tube Z. The gas on escaping from tube it passes upthrough the tube Z rather than through the bottom of the chamber m,inasmuch as the cap a, in conjunction with the flared extremity of thetube Z, constitutes a series of baifles which create a hydraulicresistance which is superior to the resistance opposed by the tube Z.The bubbles of gas in rising through tube Z act as a piston and forcebefore them the water contained in said tube, which water is dischargedinto the reservoir 0 and thence passes into the drum compartment. Inconsequence of the action produced by the escape of the gas from theextremity of the tube 76 the pressure in chamberi falls, and the waterthen enters through the perforations m into chamber m and thence intotube Z, the upper extremity of which opens freely above the water andinto tube k. In consequence of the gas being supplied to chamber Z bythe cups f in a regular manner the pressure rises little by little untilit has attained the required degree for permitting the gas to againescape from the end of tube 7! into tube Z and force out a freshquantity of water, as before described. The same phenomena are thusreproduced successively in bringing about an intermittent delivery ofwater into the drum-compartment of the meter, the water in excesspassing away through the overflow-pipe q and being returned to thereserve in the hydraulic compartment This hydraulic resistance-chambermay in some cases be dispensed with, particularly by giving to the pipe7c a sudden change of direction. This arrangement, which is more simplethan the one previously described, is represented in Figs. L and 5. Inthis modification the tube 7:, coming after the chamber i, dips into theliquid and ends in an ajutage is, the axis of which is vertical. Thisajutage ends within the vertical tube Z, which is terminated at itslower part by a hood Z, adapted to facilitate the collecting of thebubbles and at same time to offer a resistance to the passage of thewater, and at the upper part by an overflow Z ending above the normallevel of the water in the drum-casing. The bubbles collected as abovespecified by the buckets arranged on the drum ascend through the tube itand are collected in the chamber Z. As the volume of gas increases in Zthe water which has reached a part of the tube on passing through theajutage in is forced back and thrown off the tube 70. At this moment thepressure of the gas collected in Z and 7c is sufficient to overcome theresistance offered by the ajutage It" and the tube Z. A part of thecollected gas escapes now suddenly through the tube Z, forcing ordriving before it the water contained in this tube, which then flowsdown through the overflow pipe Z into the drum-casing.

The form, dimensions, and arrangement of the several parts constitutingthe apparatus may be varied according to the nature of each application.

I claim-- 1. Apparatus for automatically maintaining a constant level ofthe water in a gas-meter, consisting essentially in the employment ofbuckets mounted upon the exterior of the drum for successively taking upa certain quantity of gas at each revolution of the drum,

a chamber to which the gas thus taken up is admitted and in which it isaccumulated,areserve water-compartment communicating with saidgas-chamber by means of a pipe adapted to act as an injector anddebouching beneath the flared mouth of a second tube extending upwardabove the level of the water in the drumcasing, the arrangement beingsuch that the pressure of the gas stored in the chamber will produce, assoon as its mass and pressure are suflicient to overcome the resistanceoffered to the water by the walls of the tubes, a mechanical flow intothe drum-casing of the water which during the preceding period ofaccumulation has entered the tubes through the base of the injector,substantially as specified.

2. In a gas-meter, in combination, a rotatable drum, a drum-compartmentin which said drum is mounted, a reservoir, and means actuated by saiddrum for feeding water from said reservoir to said drum-compartment.

3. In a gas-meter, in combination, a drumcompartment containing water, adrum rotatably mounted therein, a reservoir, cups carried by said drum,and means whereby said cups may cause a feeding of water from saidreservoir to said drum-compartment.

4. In a gas-meter, in combination, a drumcompartment adapted to containwater, a drum rotatably mounted therein and carrying cups adapted topass below the surface of the water within said drum-compartment in aninverted position, means for collecting the gas escaping from said cupsbeneath the water within said drum-compartment, a reservoir, and meansfor entraining water from said reservoir to feed the same into saiddrum-compartment.

5. In a gas-meter, in combination, a drumcompartment adapted to containwater, a drum rotatably mounted therein and carrying cups which immersethemselves in an inverted position as the drum rotates, whereby saidcups may carry gas under the water within said compartment, a reservoiradapted to contain a water-supply, means for collecting the gas escapingfrom said cups and delivering the same below the water-line within saidreservoir, a tubular member, the interior whereof is in communicationwith said reservoir, said tubular member receiving the gas deliveredfrom said cups, to entrain water therein, and means for delivering saidentrained water into said drum-compartment.

The foregoing specification of my constantlevel gas-meter signed by methis 29th day of June, 1904.

JEAN ROMAIN DUPOY.

Witnesses:

HANSON 0. (10x12, MAURICE H. PIGNET.

